Comic fans have known the name Garth Ennis for years, especially after Preacher debuted on television, and mainstream fans are about to get a heavy dose of the Irish writer when The Boys arrives on Amazon Prime next year.  That means that now is the time to pick up that first appearance ahead of the coming wave.

Garth Ennis has made his name writing darkly humorous takes on pop culture tropes, and none are more directly aimed at classic Americana than The Boys.

If you haven't given this one a try, you should. In typical Ennis fashion, it's very mature with a healthy dose of sex and gore, sometimes even together in the same panels. That's the trend that I see in the continuing wave of comic adaptations, but I'll save those thoughts for another post. Back to The Boys, this is the ultimate anti-heroic tale. You've got Billy Butcher, who would be the villain in any other story, but here he is out for revenge against what is essentially a take on the Avengers and the Justice League rolled into one. In this world, however, the legendary heroes are anything but heroic. On the surface, they present the perfect do-gooder image to the public, but in the dark when no one is watching, they use their powers and abilities to take whatever they want with no consequences.

The television adaptation is already shaping up to be a hit. Amazon has the money and resources to give The Boys a high production value. There's also three names attached to it that will add credibility in the eyes of mainstream audiences: Seth Rogen, Karl Urban, and Elisabeth Shue. Rogen has been instrumental in bringing Preacher to small screens, and Urban earned his sci-fi stripes with featured roles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, portraying Bones in the latest Star Trek films, and donning the iconic Judge Dredd helmet in the aptly titled Dredd. You can also expect Amazon to ramp up the advertising when the premiere date gets closer. All this adds up to The Boys being a high-profile show that will translate into value in the collector's market. Look at Preacher for proof.

Preacher debuted on television screens into 2016, and it was an immediate hit. In 2015 when the excitement was building, a Preacher #1 at a 9.8 sold for as high as $1,130 and a low of $525. By the next year, one sold for as much as $1,339. Since then, the prices have come back to Earth; in the past 12 months, no copy has cracked the $400 mark. However, if you were the one who pocketed the $1,339 in 2016, you made out like the proverbial bandit, and that's what the comic stock market is all about: buying low and selling high.

Now is a good time to buy The Boys #1. Two years ago, a 9.8 peaked at $370, but so far in 2018, no copy has sold for more than $195. In fact, most are going in the $150 range. When the trailers and the advertising kicks off likely later this year or early next year, the hype will officially commence and that $150 will start to climb, so be ahead of the curve and get your copy now.